Wow! My name mentioned in the same breath as Paul Yandell. What an honor. That'll never happen again. Well, Mike I've been around. Just posted a video of Chet At the Whitehouse. Sure wish I had been there for that.BestAl B.

Paul shows up here once in a while. He posted very recently. I haven't seen Al for a while. In fact, I miss quite a few of the regulars. We used to see David Elliott, Mickey Ferguson, and Mike Joyce a lot. Mike was almost like a "guest professor" whose posts were so insightful that I took it in like I was sitting in a college lecture room. I never even felt like debating anything with him because the presentation of his thoughts was so rich with authority and knowledge. David Elliott is a master in the way he chooses the words to express his thoughts. It's a gift, in my opinion. Then there is Mickey who always made me think and constantly injected humor into so much of what he said......a deep thinking engineer.

I do know that there are some who have expressed to me that they don't like the new format or don't relate to it, but the biggest drawback to them that I've been told is the lack of participation, at least when it comes to posting. Through their eyes It doesn't seem worth it to jump through the hoops to learn the "ins and outs" of this new format when there "aren't that many people to interact with anyway". Yet I know they are out there because I can post a thought or acknowledgment and not get a single response and yet see within a few days that over 400 people have read it. So I know they're out there. I will have to admit though that I feel like I'm in a very small room here compared to the previous "convention center" that I once felt I was a part of. The "electricity" isn't here any more, but my passion for the subject is so strong that to interact with others who have a similar interest is irresistible.

I'm not nearly as "prolific" on this board as I once was when I joined in 2007 (164 posts in the first week), but I would feel lost and lonely without it.

Hi Rande & Mike.......I agree with both of you in what you say. I have expressed my dislike for the new format but I have learned how to navigate in it somewhat but I have buddies who simply refuse to do any more than monitor the board but not post. The other board with all its issues was far far superior to this one for the simple fact that it made you feel a part of something personal almost like you were talking to people in real time. It is what it is and for all our griping....this board is free to use and Tom does it out of the kindness of his heart for no pay. Thanks Tom for all you do....I don't mean to sound like I'm not grateful for the ChetBoard, because I most certainly am!

As far as the NEW CB's format is 'THE NORM' for discussion forums ..."

I didn't have anything to do with the new format but I think it is superior to the old one by a mile.You can, with one click on 'view new posts' , get all tne new posts since your last visit all lined up for you

You can fetch up a recent topic easily

You can edit (and go back and correct an error if you want to)

You can underline or put in italics any words you want to.

I cannot, for the life of me, see what was supposed to be so all fired superior about the old board except people don't like anything new. They're afraid to ask for help, I guess because they think their question would be a "stupid question".

Ain't no such Thing as a 'stupid question'. How ya gonna find out something if you don't ask?

Well, I had to ask for help and I'm a computer guy! I wasn't understanding something so I asked and someone helped me.

So we have people who 'monitor but don't post' because they don't like the new format.

Wow. That's a real good reason.

Meanwhile, the chetboard, which is supposed to be about Chet Atkins and his music is withering.

Mike is right. This kind of fromat is becoming more common every day. Doug Hendrix (who used to run the old format) agreed but he was pretty burnt out on being Den Mother and wanted out of the forum business altogether.

I was focusing more on the fact that there is less participation than anything about WHY. I agree that this format issuperior but the agreement has to go way beyond mine in order for the participation to increase.

RandeDager wrote:I was focusing more on the fact that there is less participation than anything about WHY. I agree that this format issuperior but the agreement has to go way beyond mine in order for the participation to increase.

Well, there actually is a means to VOICE CONFERENCE via Skype, PalTalk and the next generation of Yahoo Messenger.

These mediums are FREE, and are simple to use. For 25 bucks you can get a nice PC headset with a mic to TALK to whomever, whenever, you want either person to person or as a group.

If you have ample bandwidth with ZERO packet loss, you can even have a GROUP JAM ! ! !

I think what many here DON'T like about the NEW V-Bulletin type CB is that the message threads CAN'T be expanded to a 'Thread Tree' as the previous board, which made ALL messages easily visible to read at a glance, rather than now having to click them all open individually, easily losing your place as to which messages you've already have or haven't yet read.

This is done to conserve bandwidth/web page loading times for lower bandwidth, as well as dial-up connections. A Thread Tree option may be available in future versions of this applet, as dial-up service is getting to be pretty much non-existent these days.

If BRUTE-FORCE isn't working, you're just not applying enough of it ! ! !

I have to admit that I was one of the stubborn ones who couldn't accept the "new" format of the Chetboard, but I've become use to it now. I find that if I just check in with the NEW posts at the top of the list I'm similar to the old board, since all I usually checked was the new posts.BestAl B.